Pump horns for very large breasts

[Youngfrankenstein]

Hi everyone.

I have a friend who's due with her second baby in a few short months.  She e-mailed me about finding a pump with horns large enough for very large breasts.  She tried to pump with her last but she never had much success which she attributes to the horns her pump had.

I had an LC friend looking into this but I haven't hear back in a few months and I don't want to be giving the advice a week before she's due.

She nursed/pumped for about 4 months with her first dd and was sad and frustrated that she didn't have more success than that.  I believe her workplace is very pump-friendly so I'd like to help her out.

TIA

[Caneel]

I had a Medela Pump in Style and I did move up to the X-large horns, oddly enough, against the advice of my LC. 

I watched several videos (I believe on the Meldela site and on Kelly Moms) that showed how the breast tissue should be situated in the horns.  Even though my breasts aren't particularly huge, I have a lot of breast tissue off to the sides and I just felt that I wasn't getting the most out of the pumping action. 

The larger horns made a huge difference for me in terms of output.  I remember the price being modest, which is why I didn't think twice about giving them a try against the LCs advice.

[amautik]

Look into the Ameda system.  I didn't end up buying it, but that was one of the primary points I was interested in when I was looking.

http://www.ameda.com/ameda-products/accessories#CustomFit%20Flanges

[cat13]

Really it's just trial and error. As PP mentioned, extra flanges aren't too expensive so she can just try what works for her.

Also, it's not necessarily just the breast size, but also nipple size. I have small breasts (A/B even while nursing) but went up to a larger flange size because my nipples get very large while I'm pumping.

I'm also considering getting these Pumpin Pals, which are soft flanges that you insert into your pump. So it doesn't matter what size your pump is, and the Pumpin Pal comes with 3 different sizes. It's supposed to fit any pump. Hmm... maybe after next paycheck I'll try it out.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by cat13 

Really it's just trial and error. As PP mentioned, extra flanges aren't too expensive so she can just try what works for her.

Also, it's not necessarily just the breast size, but also nipple size. I have small breasts (A/B even while nursing) but went up to a larger flange size because my nipples get very large while I'm pumping.

I have larger breasts and was very uncomfortable with the "normal" size flanges, so I got the larger ones. They were worse for me! On the suggestion of an LC, I got the smaller size flanges and they were perfect. I was much more comfortable and had better output. So I don't think breast size and flange size are an automatic correlation.
 

[Youngfrankenstein]

Thanks everyone.  This has been really helpful.

[srdvdsn]

I have very large breasts (38J) and I had success with the first years horn, the one with the little disks or whatever that are supposed to "massage" (read: suck more LOL) the breast. I would also say I have very wide areola and average-wide nipples. I was only pumping a few times a day, a few days a week though, I'm not sure what it would feel like for an exclusive pumper/long term use.

[myk]

i've used the ameda purely yours and the medela pump in style. i am a 38N in US bra sizes (38JJ in UK). for some reason i found that the ameda had a lot more friction than the medela, due to its shape. i recommend the medela and just get the sized flanges for whatever you need.

i did not actually need larger flanges. i think it has more to do with nipple size than breast size. despite my gigantic breasts, my nipples are not large. another reason to try the medela - you don't know what size you need until you try it and the ameda is one size fits most.. not all.